Certainly, no one could fault the effort of the Calgary Flames in Sunday’s home opener against the Vancouver Canucks and certainly not their head coach.

But still, Bob Hartley used a few costly mistakes made by veterans from the 5-4 overtime loss as teaching tools early following the aftermath on Monday.

Two third-period blunders, for example, completely changed the course of the game and turned a 3-1 Flames lead to a tie game. One of which was committed by Curtis Glencross who was behind the Flames’ net. On his backhand, he tried to send the puck around the boards but did not see Daniel Sedin waiting for him. The slick Swede picked up the puck and Jannik Hansen finished. Then, Brian McGrattan had a pass knocked down at the blueline by Chris Higgins paving the way for Mike Santorelli’s goal.

“Glennie’s giveaway, Grats’ giveaway, they’re pretty glaring mistakes,” pointed out Hartley. “Even Harvey the Hound saw it. But, at the same time, nobody does it on purpose . . . obviously, we didn’t execute in the right way. But we will find a way. We have confidence in those guys. Where would we be without those guys?

“Nobody likes to see those mistakes but . . . they felt like you-know-what.”

Also feeling like a goat was rookie Sean Monahan who took Vancouver’s overtime goal personally. He had been beat behind the Canucks net and, in transition, Vancouver centreman Mike Santorelli tossed a puck to Kevin Bieksa who beat Flames defenceman Dennis Wideman along the boards. And, all of a sudden, it was game-over 3:17 into overtime as Bieksa hit Santorelli who tapped it past Flames netminder Joey MacDonald.

While Wideman, also another veteran, owned up to the damage, he also stood up for his green teammate Monahan, who was a minus-three on the night despite scoring Calgary’s third goal of the game and his second NHL career marker.

“I got beat wide on the overtime goal and yeah, as a veteran player, you can’t make those mistakes when you have a lead,” Wideman said. “In a game, we have to tighten it up a little bit. But if you look at Monnie’s game, he played really well. Sure, if you look at that plus/minus stat and if you don’t watch the game closely, you may think he didn’t play that good of a game. But, if you look at how many chances and plays he made offensively, he’d probably end up being a plus.”

And, of course, the bigger picture with Monahan?

“He’s making some plays with poise that veterans have played 600 games in the league wouldn’t even make and that’s what we’re impressed with,” Wideman said. “Sure, he’s playing centre against some really good players as an 18-year-old, so there’s going to be mistakes. But you just have to be there to back him up.”

POWERING UP

It’s been a long time since they’ve had a home power play attempt cheered at the Scotiabank Saddledome, but the Flames certainly deserved the appreciation they received in the second period on Sunday.

With a 2-1 lead in the second period and Henrik Sedin off for goaltender interference, the man advantage unit of Wideman, Kris Russell, Lee Stempniak, Mikael Backlund, and Jiri Hudler generated multiple scoring chances and had controlled puck movement during the two-minute stretch.

“That was probably our best power play session of the year so far,” Wideman said. “We finally got it set up, we got some shots, we had some chances. You have to hand it to that goalie (rookie Eddie Lack), he made a couple real big saves — the one on me in the back door.”

Which was definitely worth mentioning considering Lack had just made a save on Lee Stempniak from close range before Wideman, scooping up the rebound, pelted him from the other side.

Although they didn’t manage to score on the man advantage, the Saddledome cheers were definitely heard on the bench.

“Hockey fans here, they know the game,” Wideman said. “And if they see us out there working hard, and giving it everything they have, they’re going to appreciate that.”

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE THERE’S FLYERS?

A report from the Philadelphia Daily News is suggesting the Philadelphia Flyers, who have started the season 0-3, could be interested in Curtis Glencross.

Last week, the Flyers sent assistant general manager Ron Hextall and director of scouting Chris Pryor to Washington for Calgary’s first game of the season. Head pro scout Dave Brown travelled to Columbus for Calgary’s matchup the following night while scout John Chapman was in Calgary Sunday for the team’s home opener against the Vancouver Canucks.

A Flames representative was one of 13 scouts from Western Conference teams to show up last week at the Wells Fargo Center for the Flyers’ opener. Calgary’s East Coast scout, Steve Leach, along with three other teams’ scouts, were in Carolina to take in the Flyers and Hurricanes Sunday.

The 30-year-old first-line winger is appealing because of his gritty game and he’s consistent. He netted 26 points in 40 games last season and has 24- and 26-goal seasons on his resume. Glencross’ $2.55 million salary-cap hit also makes sense for the Flyers — if the player is willing to waive his no-trade clause.

Flames GM Jay Feaster said last April that 25 teams inquired about Glencross at the trade deadline. In addition to Glencross, the Flyers could be interested in 20-year-old Sven Baertschi, a first-round pick who was blasted by Brian Burke last week.

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